Guest Post: Why (Action) Matters

The ever incredible T.L. Bugg of The Lightning Bug’s Lair celebrated his FIVE YEAR (!) blog anniversary in August, and to help him celebrate such an incredible feat, he asked a bunch of awesome peeps (and myself) to take a defensive stance on specific genres of cinema. In what the Bugg has dubbed Why (Genre) Matters, myself and a bunch of passionate writers tackled topics and genres spanning everything from Trash Cinema and Westerns to Hitchcock and Horror Fandom. As for my topic, I got the opportunity to express why Action matters.

Now, while this seems like an easy A for someone who absolutely adores the action genre in ways that few can comprehend, this was sort of a difficult task for me at first. However, I found an angle that I think defends the genre in a way that expresses its depth as well as its importance in cinema. Though it very well could be a bunch of nonsense, but I’ll let you decide that for yourself.

Click here to read my post on Why (Action) Matters!

Also, be sure you take the time to check out all of the Why (Genre) Matters’ posts. There are some seriously wonderful people/writers involved, so I highly encourage you to dig into one of the coolest events the blogosphere has ever seen!

Click here to read all the posts on Why (Genre) Matters!

Before I sign off, I do want to take a moment to thank T.L. Bugg for asking me to take part in such a major event. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to hang out with Bugg on a number of occasions, and he’s become someone who I consider a true friend. With that said, I want to wish him a happy five year anniversary, and I look forward to what the next five years bring us!

Guest Spot on the Hump!

Some time back I was asked by America's sweetheart, T.L. Bugg, master of disaster and the main-man behind The Lightning Bug's Lair, to write a guest post for his Alfred Hitchcock specific segment, Hitch on the Hump. This is a segment that Bugg has been doing on and off again for quite some time, so for him to ask me to take part is quite the honor. Even more so, it gave me a reason to delve into some Hitchcock, and seeing as I was lucky enough to check out Rear Window on the big screen just a few weeks back, my film of choice came pretty easily. So head on over to The Lair, read about my thoughts on Rear Window, as well as my experience seeing it in the cinema, and be sure to check out all the other goodies the Bugg has to offer! I heard he has lots of speed and dildos, and we all love speed and dildos, right?!

Click Da Link!

CNAMB Presents: Presents! Part one

I know it's not quite Christmas yet, but I did participate in a sort of Secret Santa (that's not so secret and is officially dubbed, Kringle – it's a Canadian thing) as a part of the wonderful The Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema community. I did it last year and got some serious goodies, and this time around was no different. The person who had me in this cinematic filled gift exchange was none other than Zach, who many of you may know as T.L. Bugg, the man behind The Lightning Bug's Lair!

Now, because of the whirlwind that went on with some lame-O contest recently, I never had the opportunity to write about the awesome experiences I had at Horrorhound Weekend in Cincinnati back in November. Well, now's not the time, but it was very awesome and I spent not nearly enough time with a whole lot of amazing people that I had physically met for the first time, one of whom was Zach. So, what did Zach get me in this gift exchange? Well, the question should probably be what didn't he get me, because this was some serious shit he sent my way. Allow me to show you…

From left across the top starts with a little Hip-Hop and food related reading material - a clamshell VHS copy of Kill the Golden Goose (staring Ed Parker!) – a VHS copy of Hurricane Smith – a VHS copy of American Ninja (which will look nice next to my copy of American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt!) – and the final VHS belongs to, The Glove (!)!

Down on the bottom from left to right (all DVD) starts with Abel Ferrara's 'R Xmas – an Exploitation Cinema Double Feature featuring the films Mausoleum and Blood Song -  Teenage Catgirls in Heat – Alex Cox's Straight Hell – and last but certainly not least, Star Knight, a film I had not heard of until I read a review over at the Bug's place. I'm in for a good time from what I remember. 

So while this is a whole ton of awesome, the coolest of the cool for me is that copy of The Glove (!) on VHS. You may or may not know (or care, for that matter) that the first blog review I ever wrote was for The Glove. Heck, I was even lucky enough to be able to talk a bit about the film with the great John Saxon himself. So yeah, that shit is cool.

So this post is a bit bloated, but I was simply too excited about this great package I received and I simply had to share it with you all. Thanks so much to Zach for these incredible gifts, and I hope to one day repay him by letting him open up my package! Wait?

My 13 Favorite Remakes!

Whoa, that sounds like some heavy stuff right there and it is. See, if you remember last year during this time, our good friend and master of the universe, T.L. Bugg of The Lightning Bug's Lair, had put together his second annual Halloween Top 13, with the subject being that of his favorite sequels. And now, one year later, the Bugg is back and this time around his Halloween Top 13 focus is on the ever controversial horror remake!

As with last year, Bugg made a call to arms and asked that people participate with their own list of remakes that they love, and I of course once again grabbed my battle axe, mounted my stead and met that call to arms full on with a list of my own. It's an epic read to say the least, and I really put some serious work into it as if I were writing it for CNAMB. So, I ask of you to take a few minutes, or more, and check out my list, T.L. Bugg's fantastic daily picks, and all of the other people that made contributions to this event of incredible proportions. Bugg has poured a ton of work into all of this, so for that he deserves a huge thanks and a pat on the butt, err, I mean back, so get over there and start patting.

Click-click-click to see my picks!